


After We Get Out

by Alerane



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Café, Cute, F/F, Fresh Start, Misunderstanding, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, postgame, vr au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23571775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alerane/pseuds/Alerane
Summary: Kaede makes a cafe date with someone she hasn't seen since the game, despite her friend's warnings.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Shirogane Tsumugi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	After We Get Out

Out the window fat snowflakes fluttered through the air, some sticking to the glass, some joining the grey slush in the street as people crowded the sidewalk. Mud and snow mixed and tracked on people’s boots, trailing in puddles into the little cafe. In her corner booth near the window, Kaede was glad to be out of it for a bit. She traced a finger along the chilly glass, drawing out the staff and bars. Idly she plotted the clef and notes to a song in the condensation, wondering if this was as terrible an idea as everyone else had thought it was. She lifted her finger from her budding verse, slick with the cold and wet of the outdoors and lightly wiped it on her sleeve. When she glanced up she realized her guest had arrived.

Standing next to the table, almost tentatively waiting for an invitation or permission, was a familiar bespectacled girl, her long blue hair tied in a braid, and peppered in already melting powder snow. Tsumugi Shirogane looked largely the same as she remembered, her vacant eyes, pale and smooth features. Kaede had thought her pretty when they first met too. The cosplayer hadn’t really been around when they had all come to, due to tensions. She was honestly surprised she looked this way both in and out of the game. So many of the others couldn’t quite live up to the selves they expected in the mirror. Kaede sure didn’t see the picture perfect pianist in her own memories staring back at her in her own reflection.

“Shirogane-san, please sit down,” Kaede said quickly, gesturing to the seat across from her, where the second menu sat. Tsumugi stared at her like a deer in headlights a moment longer, before removing her scarf and sliding down the bench to the offered spot. She mumbled a greeting, keeping her eyes down the entire time. The menu was now a subject of keen interest, apparently. Kaede sighed a bit. She wasn’t sure what she had expected honestly. “Wasn’t hard to find the place, was it?”

“Ah, no it was pretty close to the station, like you said,” Tsumugi replied, adjusting her glasses and glancing to the side. 

“Good,” Kaede said brightly, smiling. The expression went unnoticed. 

The silence stretched on as Tsumugi removed her coat. It finally broke when the waitress came around. She took out her notepad and pencil, and flashed them a grin.

“Welcome, are you ladies ready to order?”

“Oh, I think we’ll need a minute, she just got-”

“I’ll have milk tea and an omurice special, thank you,” Tsumugi said, cutting her off, handing the menu back. Kaede blinked.

“Uh, I’ll have one, too then! With a melon soda.”

The waitress wrote the orders down and headed back to the kitchen with the menus. The two of them sat opposite each other awkwardly. Kaede smiled again, wincing as Tsumugi’s eyes drifted to the window with no menu to read anymore. She had to take the initiative here, didn’t she.

“So, Shirogane-san, you look good. How have you been?”

“I’ve been the same.”

A pause. 

“Well, that’s good to hear! I’ve been doing okay, I just got a new job and-”

“Akamatsu, why did you invite me here?”

“-it’s not music but- huh?”

“Why did you ask me to meet with you? Did something happen? Is this about your contract, or is there an issue? What is it?”

Tsumugi had finally met her eye, and looked so serious. Her eyebrows were drawn together as she searched Kaede’s face. The intensity rose out of nowhere as she leaned in. Kaede could see her own face reflected in her glasses as they fogged up. The blonde pressed back from the table as Tsumugi clasped her hand.

“What do you mean!? Nothing’s happened.”

“Is it paparazzi? Blackmail? I can’t help unless I know the details.”

“Shiroga-”

“I know you didn’t want to stay in contact with the company, but the resources are in place to protect your-”

“Tsumugi, stop! I’m fine!”

The blue haired woman stopped, confusion washing over her expression. The intensity gave way to a nervous look that was more recognizable. She retracted her hand and adjusted her glasses.

“Then, what did you need me for?”

Kaede ran a hand through the back of her hair, this time being the one to break eye contact as her cheeks brightened. No wonder scheduling this had been so easy. She hoped nothing important had been cancelled to run out and see her like this. Beating around the bush would only make matters worse, so Kaede swallowed her nerves and told the truth.

“I wanted to see you, and to try out this cafe together. I didn’t need anything.”

The waitress returned with their drinks, placing them on the table and utterly failing to read the awkward air as she asked if they wanted anything else while they waited. Kaede forced a polite smile, thanked her assuring they were fine. By the time she left, Tsumugi looked like she wanted a map to the conversation. She opened her mouth, and paused with it open. She closed it again. She looked up again, and finally spoke.

“Why?”

“Because we said we would when we got out, right?” Kaede stirred at her soda with her straw, bubbles sticking to it. “I know we didn’t get a lot of time to talk during… or after… but I meant what I said about us getting new hobbies, and maybe going out to cafes. Trying new things.” She sipped her soda, hoping her face wasn’t anywhere near as red as it felt.

“You still wanted to do that? With me?” Tsumugi tilted her head, incredulous in tone. “You watched the game, and you spoke to the others.”

“I did, but I also heard them talk about me, and I’ll be honest, they aren’t all the best judges of character. So I figure I can do some getting to know you myself, and then see what I think after it all. Though I guess I should have said that when I contacted you, haha, I just sort of assumed you meant what you said. Or that even if you didn’t, you wouldn’t mind? Kind of silly now that I’m saying it. I don’t really know how you see me.”

“I don’t mind, no,” Tsumugi adjusted her glasses and took a sip from her milk tea. There was some quiet as they both drank, the noise of the cafe around them light at this hour. She thoughtfully glanced back down and then continued, “But what do you mean how I see you? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Kaede bent the plastic straw a little between her fingers and bit her lip.  
“Well, you know, the whole… fiction thing. You’re not like the rest of us, you’re… from here. To me I don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference really, but I would totally understand if you didn’t want to hang around with someone when you had a part in writing it all?”  
She paused letting the straw snap straight again.  
“With all you said about what’s real and-”

“NO!” The interruption is loud enough that the cafe gets a bit hushed. Outside the window though the snowy bustling world continued on, unperturbed. A bit flustered, Tsumugi shakes her head.

“I… a lot of what I said there was what needed to be said, to end the charade, but… I never thought of you as fake. Everything you said to me felt real, whether you knew the truth or not. You’re the one who realized your only hobby was piano, and made the plans. If anything I’m the one who’s fake. I don’t have the excuse of memories.” Tsumugi tugs at her braid almost anxiously, shame growing on her face.

“Well… can you let me see if I believe that then? While we try out cafes, or cooking or… something?”

“I… sure. I’d love to.”

They smiled at each other a moment, before becoming acutely aware that the waitress had been waiting for their exchange to end, grinning at the edge of their booth. She placed the meals down in front of them, complete with hearts drawn in ketchup on top of the omurice. 

“Bon appetit~!” She said with a wink, before she skittered back to the counter.  
This time Tsumugi went beet red as Kaede laughed. They would definitely need to try some other cafes, lest they get a reputation at this one. The chatter returned in the other booths, they started the meal, and started over fresh.


End file.
